


Galaxies Away

by missingnolovefic



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Galacticraft, Alternate Universe - Sky Factory, Alternate Universe - Space, Astronauts, Developing Relationship, Hallucinations, Loneliness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-02 13:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14545860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingnolovefic/pseuds/missingnolovefic
Summary: Ryan travels into a far away system to prove a point.Jack is drawn to him immediately, fascinated by the strange being exploring his creations.





	Galaxies Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MyOwnAnthem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnAnthem/gifts).



> For anthemono! Thank you for your support <3
> 
> This is a mixed Sky Factory & Galacticraft AU, inspired by the AH Sky Factory series and Ryan's combo Sky Fact/Galacticraft streams.

_Captain’s log of the ECRT 12680, stardate April 28th, 415 GT. Solo exploration mission; this is Captain James R. Haywood of the Explorator designation Edgar-Oh-Five. I’ve arrived at my destination. Where previously no stars had been logged, I’ve found a small solar system. While it is too early to tell if they all orbit the system’s sun, there are by my count three unaccounted planets within the systems. Preliminary scans show no sentient lifeforms or potential civilisations. Tomorrow, I will approach the planet furthest from the sun for closer scans. Captain’s log, over._

Ryan sat back in the captain’s chair, watching the new solar system on screen. No one had believed him but he was _right_. And now he had proof-

“Serves them right for doubting,” he muttered, clasping his hands under his chin. His eyes skimmed over the readouts. “Computer, have the astrosuit equipped with sub-zero gear. I should check on the drones, make sure they’re working adequately.”

Was talking to himself normal? he wondered. Ryan snorted. Probably not, but he was alone and had no one to judge him, so why should he care? He unscrewed the backplate on one of the bots, checking the wires and connections.

Was he lonely? Ryan paused as the question popped into his mind. Humans weren’t really good at being solitary, social creatures that they were. Yes, Ryan decided, he felt rather lonely. There was a wave of sadness building in the back of his mind, seeping into his consciousness. He pushed it aside.

“Not like I had much of a choice,” Ryan scoffed, scratching his cheek with the sonic screwdriver. “No one wanted to come with me. What should I do, leave an entire solar system undiscovered?” The drone’s hardware seemed to be in good enough condition, so he screwed it back shut. “Their loss. Computer, run a diagnostic on discovery asset number 47.”

It was a beautiful system, Ryan thought with a touch of pride. He was glad to have found it.

“I should name it,” he mumbled, staring at the blue planet he was exploring tomorrow. “Beauty like this deserves better than a string of numbers.”

Agreement filled his mind. Ryan nodded decisively. Edgar didn’t sound right, though. Nor any of his other go-tos. Ryan zoomed out, staring at the row of planets. They all had one letter followed by a string of numbers. From the innermost star to the outer one, they read J, A, C, K…

“Jack,” Ryan murmured. It rung true. Ryan shook his head, laughing at himself. The name was too undignified for a solar system - but that thought brought with it a sense of indignation. Ryan paused, staring at the screen. Maybe not the scientific name, but as a nickname…

Yeah. That could work.

 

* * *

 

_Captain’s log of the ECRT 12680, stardate April 30th, 415 GT. Solo exploration mission; this is Captain James R. Haywood of the Explorator designation Edgar-Oh-Five. During one sleep cycle, the scanners have discovered a fourth planet, temporarily designated P-297-SF. Previous scans showed no mass of any kind in its space. Around 0545 GST it first appeared on scans. No signs can be found before then, as if it appeared out of thin air, which is clearly scientifically impossible-_

“Computer, delete that last sentence,” Ryan ordered, rubbing at his temple. He’d been nursing something of a headache since he’d arrived in this system. It hadn’t helped that he’d had trouble concentrating, his mind wandering too much. Ryan snorted. “Maybe this being all by myself business is driving me crazy, and I just missed it in the earlier readings.”

It was pretty lonely out here. Nothing but a big empty space and stars in the distance. And now the new planet to join it’s brethren in circling the sun. Ryan leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“It used to be less lonely with the mutt running around,” he admitted to himself. He pictured the grey wolfshound with the red collar sitting at his feet and felt a twinge of sadness. Pickles the Second had died several months ago. Ryan forgot to clone him in time like he was supposed to, and now he was companionless. Did he want company?

“Humans are social creatures,” Ryan mused aloud, stretching his arms above his head. “I guess it’s normal I’m going a little stir-crazy. Nothing but this ship and the wide open space… Next thing I’ll know, I won’t just be talking to myself but making up imaginary friends.”

Imaginary friends… Ryan frowned. The idea of being so pathetically alone that he made up another person being here with him- was that possible? Would he be able to see that person? The wave of excitement he felt at the thought made him a little uneasy, but it subsided quickly enough.

Maybe he wasn’t ready for that quite yet.

 

* * *

 

_Captain’s log of the ECRT 12680, stardate May 12th, 415 GT. Solo exploration mission; this is Captain James R. Haywood of the Explorator designation Edgar-Oh-Five. Previous logs since the 5th have been removed due to scientific inaccuracies. Possible contamination from planet P-297-SF introduced a hallucinogen into the life support system, leading to unreliable reports in the last week. The system has been cleared and rebooted and any lingering effects are easily disregarded-_

“Contamination?” the bearded man asked, bemused. Ryan ignored him. “Hallucinogen?”

“Shut up,” Ryan muttered, pausing the audiolog. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. “You do not exist, I am just making you up. The isolation effect plus the hallucinatory properties created a lingering afterimage. I’m sure psychologists would have a field day.”

“Right. So you keep saying.” The man cocked his head, leaning over Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan tensed, feeling his breath on his cheek. “What are you doing?”

“Running scans on the hallucinogen,” Ryan responded instinctively, before he mentally cursed himself. The man shot him a knowing look, as if he could read his thoughts. Which he couldn’t. He was simply a concoction of his brain and since his brain knew what he was thinking- “I’m getting a headache.”

“Sorry.” The man winced, and the heavy pressure on his temples eased. “Still figuring this out. I’ve never met a non-telepathic species before who was receptive for communication but unable to form their own.”

“Assuming you actually exist and any of that is true,” Ryan pointed out crankily. He would not let the lessening of a headache fool him into making snap judgements. He’d done enough of that the week before. No, he had to approach this rationally. “Why have I only met one of your kind?”

A wave of sadness crashed over him.

“My species doesn’t appreciate the kind of work I do. They’re… afraid. That I’m going too far, doing too much.” The man’s eyes were downcast as he talked, his shoulders tense. Ryan watched him from the corners of his eyes, feeling a pang in his chest. It echoed his struggle perfectly, and for one moment he felt acutely sympathetic to this being.

“What is it that you do?” Ryan inquired softly. The man looked up, startled out of his reverie. His eyes lit up and he smiled eagerly.

“I made this,” he stated proudly, gesturing at the screen. It showed a chart of the solar system with copious notes Ryan had been taking. “You’ve been cataloging my creations.”

Ryan’s brain came to a screeching halt. He balked at the idea of anyone being able to create something of this magnitude. An entire star system out of nothing. No, this had to be a delusion, some lingering effect-

“Most of my people stick to just one star in their lifetime,” the man prattled on. “It’s dangerous work, and there’s a big chance it’ll explode in your face. But I’ve always dreamt-”

“What do you want from me, hallucination?” Ryan snapped, whirling his chair around. The man’s eyebrows rose.

“My name is Jack,” he corrected him drolly.

“Fine. _Jack_.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “What do you want from me?”

Jack shrugged and turned his head, staring at the screen pretending to be a window to space beyond.

“Companionship,” he said easily, but there was a pang of longing in Ryan’s chest that he was half-sure wasn’t his own. Stupid telepathic, empathic, alien entity. Ryan didn’t know what to say. In the end, he said nothing, turning back to his console.

Eventually, Jack vanished.

 

* * *

 

_Captain’s log of the ECRT 12680, stardate May 28th, 415 GT. Solo exploration mission; this is Captain James R. Haywood of the Explorator designation Edgar-Oh-Five. Still no signs of sentient life. However, I’ve discovered an indigenous species of herbivores on C-732-ST. Its outward appearance is similar to that of Bos Taurus, with a white and red checkered pattern and some sort of mushroom-shaped outgrowth on its back and head. I have brought back a specimen for study, designation P1CK37S…_

“Pickles,” Jack said dubiously. “You named him Pickles.”

“You made him for me,” Ryan countered stubbornly, waving his handheld scanner over the Mooshroom. “Ergo, I get to name him whatever I want.”

“But seriously. _Pickles_?” Jack cocked his head, and Ryan felt the familiar sensation of a mind brushing against his. It sent a pleasant tingle down his spine that he steadfastly ignored. “I was lead to believe that is a small green disc made for consumption?”

Ryan paused. “Not… exactly?” An image of a burger popped into his mind, five pickles covering the patty. “Those are the sliced version of the vegetable. A whole one looks more like… this.”

He concentrated hard on the picture of a pickle jar. Then he mentally opened the jar and picked up a pickle. When Ryan looked back up from the scanner’s output screen, Jack was watching him with an intent look.

“And they grow in these… cylindrical, fluid-filled shells?” Jack inquired curiously. Ryan hummed distractedly, paging through the readout. “I wonder if I could make something like that…”

With that Jack vanished into thin air, going wherever it was when he went into creator mode. Ryan blinked, the conversation catching up with him.

“Uhh… Jack?” No answer. “Jack? That’s not-”

Great. Ryan sighed and prepared himself to find some weird sort of plant-jar the next day. His lips curved up into a smile. At least he wasn’t lonely anymore.

 

* * *

 

_Captain’s log of the ECRT 12680, stardate June 12th, 415 GT. Solo exploration mission; this is Captain James R. Haywood of the Explorator designation Edgar-Oh-Five. I hereby submit my preliminary report of the Pattillian System, consisting of the planets A-255-SO, C-732-ST, K-585-ST, and P-297-SF revolving around the dwarf star J-488-CS. While many indigenous life-forms have been discovered, no sentient life has yet developed. As such I would recommend further off-hand observation of the system. The planets are uninhabitable to most species within the Confederacy without terraforming measures. Colonization should be discouraged. With the council’s permission, I will remain to catalogue additional data about the local phenomenons. Captain’s log, over._

Arms wrapped around his waist, and Ryan leaned back into the solid warmth. Jack hooked his chin over his shoulder, regarding the report on the screen solemnly.

“Do you think this is the right choice?” he asked quietly. Ryan turned to look at him. “It’s your discovery. You could make a big name for yourself.”

“It’s your creation,” Ryan retorted. He laid his hands over Jack’s. “Do you really want a bunch of assholes ruining it already?”

“No, I think we’ve already reached our quota for assholes per planet,” Jack joked. Ryan snorted.

“It’s not healthy to talk bad about yourself.” Ryan squeezed his hand gently. “Don’t you want to see what your worlds can become without outside interference? I-” Ryan swallowed. “I don’t want people trampling all over your beautiful plants. I don’t need to prove anything to them. I was right, and I know it, and you know it. That’s enough for me.”

Jack remained quiet for a long moment. Then he turned his head, brushing a kiss against Ryan’s temple. “Thank you. It means… a lot.”

Ryan smiled, burying into the warmth radiating off of Jack.


End file.
